The Eighth Warden Bk. 02 Ch. 11-12

Vash looked puzzled. "Which one?"

Razai rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Never mind. Let's talk about the seaborn instead. Why are they hiring bodyguards?"

"A few of the street gangs have banded together and expanded into the docks. They run the whores and the beggars, and some of the gambling, but they decided that wasn't enough. They know they can't go after the fishing fleets, the fishmongers' guild, or the trading houses if they want to keep their heads, so instead, they're pressuring the divers for a share of their take."

"Do the divers really bring in enough to interest them?"

"There are seven diver groups working the harbor and the bay, and each group makes two or three trips a day. It adds up, and most of what they catch sells for decent coin. The gangs went after them because they should have been an easy target to serve as an example to the other businesses around the docks, but the seaborn decided to fight back. The gangs are trying to save face by forcing them to back down, and a few of the divers have been killed."

"So that's where you come in."

"Yes. We're there to show everyone that the divers aren't easy targets. Some little gang maggot tried to shoot me with a crossbow a while back, but the bolt bounced off and I caught up to him. Ripped his head off. The gangs haven't come after me since."

"Why not hunt them all down?"

"That's more your area than mine, but I doubt the constabulary would appreciate finding a few dozen dead bodies. Remember, the gang members are citizens here. The seaborn aren't, and they don't want that sort of trouble."

"Who says anyone would ever find the bodies?"

"Don't go getting any ideas," Vash said. "I need this job, and I doubt they'll keep paying me if there's no threat. Here we are." He opened the door to a rundown tavern and waved her through.

Other than an attractive human woman standing off to the side with two armed guards beside her, and a tall stormborn man carrying a staff-spear, most of the people in the room were seaborn. They were gathered in small groups, talking quietly amongst themselves.

Vash approached the stormborn man. "Wotar, this is Razai. She and I worked together a time or two, and she can handle herself in a fight. Do you know if Lanii's crew is still looking for a guard?"

Wotar looked her over. "I think so, but you know the divers are only hiring people that'll scare off the thugs."

Razai bristled, but Vash just said, "Wait until they run into her in a dark alley."

The stormborn laughed, then looked at Razai more seriously. "It can't hurt to ask, but Lanii's not here today. You should ask Sifoo." He waved to one of the seaborn men, whose white hair suggested he'd just come out of the water. Seaborn hair grew lighter when it was submerged, and then grew darker again the longer it had been dry.

The man approached, and Vash said, "Razai, this is Sifoo. He runs the crew that Wotar works for. Sifoo, I thought she could work for Lanii. I'll vouch for her."

Sifoo looked her up and down with the same interest Wotar had shown, pausing at her eyes, her ears, and her heavy, curved daggers in their belt sheathes.

"You are demonborn, yes?" he asked.

"I am."

"The thugs are wary of demonborn after Vash killed several of them, but you are not so obvious as him, especially from a distance. It may not be enough."

Razai shrugged. "I can kill some, too. Or I can do this." She concentrated for a moment, then replaced her current disguise—which was just herself, but without the blue rune that had appeared on her forehead the day before—with a new one that looked like Vash. The new illusion wasn't perfect, since she hadn't practiced it, but it was good enough for a demonstration. "If you give me more time to prepare, I can be someone different, so they don't see two Vashes wandering around." Her voice was still her own. Voices took longer to learn.

Wotar burst out in startled laughter. "That'll do the job."

"Yes," Sifoo agreed, "but Lanii can't afford to pay a wizard's rates."

"I'm not a wizard, and I'll work for the same rate you're paying Vash."

"Then I think we have an understanding, as long as Lanii agrees. You'll need to speak to her later, though. She and her crew are heading out beyond the bay today, so they won't make it to the meeting."

"What's this meeting for?" Vash asked.

Sifoo said, "I think the human girl with the bodyguards is from the Senshall family. The messenger said she had a business proposal, but didn't bring any details. Kolei knows something about it, but he isn't talking."

Just then, the woman in question moved to the front of the group. "Is this everyone who's coming?" she asked, a look of disappointment on her face.

A short seaborn man said, "If your idea is worthwhile, we'll tell the others. If not, we won't."

She stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Thank you, Kolei. For those of you who don't know me, I am Sister Renny Senshall of the Three Orders. I asked you here so I could propose a plan for selling your catch each day."

A sister of the Three Orders with a family name suggested she was a concubine to a member of the Senshall family rather than being born to it.

"What is the plan?" a lanky woman asked. "You've been bothering me for weeks, but you haven't said anything worthwhile yet."

"Right now," Renny said, "you sell your take to whatever fishmonger—or jeweler, for pearls—you think will give you the best price, but those prices go up and down from day to day. What if I can give you a guaranteed price for each catch? You get the same income or higher, and you don't have to worry about finding different buyers each day."

"What sort of prices?"

"I've got them here." The concubine handed out small scrolls to Sifoo, Kolei, the lanky woman, and one other man. Razai decided they must be the leaders of the crews that were present.

"These are low," Kolei said.

"They're ten percent higher than the average prices you and your friends gave me," Renny said. "And it may come out higher still because on any given day, I'd ask you to go after a list of specific catches. Perhaps one day, a buyer's willing to pay more for lobsters or clams, and another day, he wants sponges or sea urchins."

"And how do you make money in all this?" Kolei asked skeptically.

"It's like a farmers' cooperative. By negotiating prices at a larger scale, and finding buyers who know you'll bring in what they're asking for that week, the overall earnings will be higher. I can pay you a steady rate that's a bit higher than what you typically earn, and I'll still make a profit in the long term. Some days I may lose money, but you don't have to worry about that, because your rate is guaranteed."

"What's to stop others from undercutting your prices?" the lanky woman asked.

"Nothing, but how many divers are there in Tyrsall besides the seaborn? Some fishermen put out lobster traps, but they may be willing to join the cooperative too, if their normal buyers aren't interested in lobster. My father's a fisherman, and he's talked to a few of the others about it—they already do something similar with their fishing catches."

"This'll be backed by the Senshall trading company?" Kolei asked.

"No, it's an independent project, but I can guarantee the funds for up to a month. If it doesn't work out, we can shut it down in a single day and you can simply go back to what you're doing now. It doesn't require any investment from you."

"Will you help pay for our bodyguards?" asked a man who hadn't spoken yet.

"Not if you want these rates, but the extra income should help cover what you're paying them. And if you'd like, I can ask for a meeting with Duke Voss's concubine, to see if the constabulary can pay more attention to the gangs than they have in the past."

Vash frowned at that, but the divers seemed to approve of the idea. The meeting broke up then, with the crew leaders cornering Renny to ask more questions.

If the Senshall girl actually got a response from the duke, Razai figured the job might end sooner than she'd hoped, but it would give her something to do while she thought about a new plan.

###

Chapter 12

It took Corec and his friends six days to get from Lanport to the Storm Heights, their pace slowing toward the end as a thin layer of snow built up on the road. They had to slow down even more once they reached Tarvist Pass. The pass may have been straight and flat in comparison to the other paths through the mountains, but it was still rougher going than a real road, and while the snow was still light, there was enough ice to make the footing treacherous. They had to make frequent stops to scrape snowpacks off the horses' shoes and apply a layer of bear grease to prevent buildup.

Early on the third day into the mountains, they found what they thought was the trail to Snow Crown, though no signs were posted. The snow grew deeper almost immediately after they left the pass, and after just a couple miles, had reached eight inches. The sky was clear and the snow was at least two days old, but they hadn't seen any footprints or other signs of travelers along the path.

"Is this the right road?" Corec asked.

Boktar, who was riding next to him, said, "It matches the spot on the map. Folks in Lanport said the stormborn don't get many visitors. I guess they were telling the truth. Wait, here's something."

Down the trail in the distance, there were over a dozen figures standing and facing in their direction. Once Corec had drawn close enough to make out their features, it was apparent that the people waiting for them were all stormborn. They had pale skin with a faint tinge of blue, and darker blue and purple markings from their temples down to their necks. The group was a mix of men and women, all of them armed. They wore matching long, padded coats over chainmail, and had the look of soldiers or border guards.

Half of the soldiers carried wicked-looking staff-spears with six-foot shafts. The weapons had curved blades mounted toward the end of the staff and extending six inches beyond it, and the rear of the blade had a hook for catching on armor. The weapon reminded Corec of a voulge, though it was shorter and the blade was slender, like a glaive's.

The rest of the soldiers were aiming loaded crossbows at the group. Corec and Boktar stopped their horses, keeping their hands away from their weapons. The others came to a halt behind them.

"Visitors, I am Captain Restiv of the Stormborn High Guard," said the man who stood at the front of the stormborn. He wore a rank insignia on the collar of his coat. "You've left Tarvist Pass. To find it, return two miles back the way you came. You must remain on the Tarvist Road at all times during the winter. Any other trails through the mountains are dangerous once the snows fall."

Ellerie rode forward. "We hoped to visit Snow Crown to speak to your people about an ancient city I'm searching for."

Restiv stared at her for a moment before speaking, eyeing her pointed ears and silver hair. "It's rare to see nilvasta here, but other than traders, visitors are not allowed within the Snow Crown without permission. What's this city you're looking for?"

"It was called Tir Yadar. I have something like a map to find it, but first I need to find where the map starts, which is near a mountain range. I don't know which one. I was hoping your people might be able to recognize it if it's nearby."

"Wait here, please," the captain said, then motioned to two other stormborn with less ornate rank insignia on their collars. One, an older man, joined him.

The other was a young woman. She took Restiv's place facing Corec and his friends, bringing two of the crossbowmen with her. The men kept their bows cocked and loaded, but at least they were no longer aiming directly at them. When the girl rested the butt of her staff-spear against the ground, a flicker of white and blue light ran over it, looking like tiny strands of lightning.

Corec's head felt funny, and he became aware of a faintly familiar sensation. The girl was a mage. He caught himself before he started casting the binding spell, and felt a sense of relief when it didn't force its way through his head the way it had with Razai.

He nudged Dot closer to Ellerie. "The girl in front is a mage," he said in a low tone. "I managed to keep from casting the binding spell."

She raised an eyebrow. "Too bad you couldn't have done that the last couple of times."

At least her tone was less biting tone than usual.

Captain Restiv returned and said, "I'll send a messenger to the elders to see if they'll grant permission for your party to visit Snow Crown. It'll take three days to hear back, as long as the weather holds. In the meantime, you'll need to return to the Tarvist Road to make camp. If the Council of Elders permits your visit, Lieutenant Sarette will escort your group in." He nodded toward the young woman, who frowned at him after he'd looked away.

"Thank you," Ellerie said.

#

Four days later, Sarette brought the procession to a halt after the sun had dipped below the western peaks. "We'll make camp here. We should reach Snow Crown tomorrow afternoon, and then it'll take another day to reach the city."

She'd gotten stuck with escort duty once word had come back that the Council of Elders would permit the strangers into the enclave. Her only consolation was that the trip would be brief. They'd started out just that morning, and she'd be back to her post in five days—less if the elders didn't make her stay to escort the visitors back out again.

She left her snowshoes on, but slid her heavy packframe off her back and leaned it against a tree, then turned to one of her men. "Trooper Yegor, I'll set up your tent if you handle the cooking tonight."

"Yes, miss," he replied. He'd tasted her cooking enough to know a good deal when he heard one.

While Sarette and Trooper Andri set up the tents, Yegor worked with the strangers to get a fire started. Sarette actually liked the pemmican the High Guard used as trail rations—made up of dried meat, fat, berries, and seeds—but a hot meal would be good for variety.

Done with the tents, she decided she should get to know the outsiders before bringing them to Snow Crown. She hadn't had time to speak with them while she traveled, since she'd been at the front of the group all day, breaking the trail through the snow.

She looked around for someone to talk to. The nearest of the visitors that wasn't already busy with something was the blonde human called Treya. She was off to the side, behind her own tent, but was standing on her left foot, her right foot braced against her left knee, holding her arms out to the sides. Her eyes were closed.

The pose was so odd, Sarette couldn't help blurting out, "What are you doing?"

"I'm practicing," the girl replied.

Sarette stared at her, confused. "Practicing what?"

Treya opened her eyes and set her other foot down. "It's difficult to explain, but I'm trying to find the right balance. Have you ever seen a circus contortionist? It's something like that. The more I know my body, the more I can do with it."

"I've heard of a circus, but they don't visit here. Where did you learn it?"

"I'm a mystic of the Three Orders."

Sarette shook her head. "I don't know what that is."

"The Orders take in orphan girls and teach them a profession. Most of the girls choose the concubines or scholars, but I chose the mystics. It's our job to protect the others."

"What's a concubine?"

Treya laughed. "That's something else that's hard to explain if you've never heard of them before. You don't have concubines here? When a man of wealth seeks female companionship beyond his wife, he hires a concubine to join his family."

"The wives allow it?" Sarette couldn't imagine what her mother would say if her father brought home another woman.

"It's better than having the men go behind their backs to street whores. As concubines, we bring status to the household, and we're trained in languages, diplomacy, and administration."

"We?"

"I'm sorry," the girl said with a grimace. "I trained with the concubines, so I sometimes talk as if I'm one of them, but I'm not. What about you? What's the High Guard?"

"We defend the enclave and other settlements in the Storm Heights from attacks by snow beasts or the human towns on the plains. And we watch for travelers that get lost or stranded in the mountains, especially in the winter. We watch over Tarvist Pass too, to make sure visitors stick to the road."

"We didn't see anyone in the pass, except a caravan that was heading in the other direction."

"We always know who's coming through," Sarette said. The outsiders didn't need to know about the watchtowers that were set up throughout the mountains, equipped with spyglasses to search for fires in the summer and lost travelers year round. The watchtowers had caught sight of the strangers two days earlier and sent a mirror signal to the scouting corps. The scouts had kept an eye on them from a distance, then warned the High Guard when they left the main road and turned toward Snow Crown.

Trooper Andri came over to the two women. "Lieutenant, your orders for night watch? Shall we coordinate with the visitors?"

"No," Sarette said. "They can do what they want, but the three of us will keep a standard three-shift watch. I'll take the middle shift."

She frowned at Andri as he left. Why would he ask something like that? Was he testing her? She once again regretted her decision to accept a commission. It hadn't been pleasant being put in charge of a group of men who all had five or ten years of experience in the High Guard when she herself only had ten weeks. The men all looked to Sergeant Hado over her—he was a twenty-year veteran, and Sarette suspected he'd been assigned to her squad because of her own inexperience.

"Is something wrong?" Treya asked.

"No, the men just don't like taking orders from someone so much younger. I'm an officer, but I'm the most junior officer in the entire Guard. That's why I was sent with you rather than staying on border patrol." Sarette realized she probably shouldn't have said any of that, so she changed the subject. "That, and because I trained as a stormrunner, so they don't really think of me as one of them."

"Stormrunner?"

Sarette hefted her staff-spear and charged it with lightning magic. White and blue strands of light crackled down its length, then faded out a few seconds later. Even with constant practice, the longest she'd been able to maintain the charge had been half a minute.

"When Borrisur created Snow Crown, he also created the stormrunners to defend it," she said. "But the line is dying out. I failed out of the training because my gift wasn't strong enough." She tried not to let the hurt show in her voice.

"Corec mentioned you were a mage," Treya said.

"The human with the big sword? He knows? Anyway, I'm not much of a mage. Since I couldn't be a stormrunner, I joined the High Guard, but they said I had to be an officer."

"I don't understand. How are you an officer if you're younger than them?"

"Someone's either an officer or they're not. It usually depends on whether their family can afford to buy them a spot at the academy, but in my case, they decided my stormrunner training qualified me. Only, I didn't learn all the same things the cadets learn." Sarette shook her head in irritation, wondering why she kept bringing up private matters with this stranger. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be telling you all this."

"It's all right. I'm happy to talk. Do you want to meet the others?"

#

"Samir!" Rusol exclaimed, clasping his friend's forearm. "Welcome back. Yassi told me you were on your way...and that you were coming alone."

"Your Highness, thank you for your welcome," Samir said, glancing at his sister, who stood silently behind Rusol.